Dog Days
by Rivendell101
Summary: It's summer, they're done with college for three months, and they've taken up dog sitting. Fun, right? Wrong. Impromptu kissing in the park turns into sixteen hairy beasts running loose through Magnolia. The couple has less than six hours to find the dogs before the angry owners come to collect their furry friends. This certainly won't be a walk in the park. AU
1. 1 Fish, 2 Fish, Red Fish Red Fish?

**AN: New story collab between Wordsofawitheringwriter and I :3 I wrote this chapter, but the next one is going to be hers! Please be sure to leave us a review and tell us what you think, we'd really appreciate it! Next chapter will be next Friday!**

 **Dog Days**

 **Chapter One: One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish…Red Fish?**

Gray grumbles under his breath, lips pulled down in a frown as he rolls his eyes at his friend—enemy? Frienemy? Brother from another mother? What is Natsu to him?—as he crosses his arms. Natsu ignores this, which is strange, because usually he'd be picking a fight right now.

A pout pulls at his lips. Ever since Natsu started dating Lucy during their junior year of high school, he hasn't wanted to fight as much. And, while Gray fully enjoys not having his face be beaten in, he can't help but miss riling up the other hot-blooded male. It was always fun to watch Natsu finally snap.

The not-so-fun part came directly after that. When Natsu gave him a black eye or a bloody nose.

"Natsu," Gray says, exasperated—because he is _not_ whining. Gray Michael Fullbuster does not _whine_ —as he stares at his friend's back, wondering for the twentieth time why he decided to go with Natsu to the damn _pet store_. Don't Natsu and Lucy have enough pets already? They're going to become animal hoarders some day, and then they'll be thrown out of their house, and then they'll have to live with Gray. And Gray _does not_ do animals (meaning their actual pets, not Natsu). Not since he was in first grade and woke up to find that one of his goldfish had eaten the other and then subsequently _died_ from overeating.

He couldn't keep two fish alive, but Natsu and Lucy have, like, sixty pets and they're all fine? How is that fair? Sure, Lucy is an awesome caregiver, but Natsu can barely take care of himself! Gray is eighty-percent sure that Natsu would be dead or homeless if it wasn't for Lucy keeping him on top of things.

It's not that Natsu is dumb, or a slacker. He's just a free spirit who's a little bit crazy. Lucy is the part of him that keeps him grounded—so he doesn't just float away.

Gray supposes that it's sweet, in some way, but he'd never admit it out loud.

"What?" Natsu responds, not looking at him, still crouched down in front of bags of—what is that? Cat food?

Gray sighs, shaking his head. "Why are we here?" Meaning, in the cat food aisle, not here as in the _Wild Four Pet Store_! God, he hates this place. The employees are always screaming and they wear these weird, spiky dog collars. You want to be kinky? Fine, just save it for at home!

His pink-haired friend looks at him like Gray's stupid. "We're buying dog food," he says slowly, swiping his brightly colored bangs away from his face.

Gray sometimes wonders how people can take Natsu seriously. He's got bright pink hair, two piercings in his left ear, and dresses in ripped jeans and band tee's. Frankly, he looks like some punk kid that walks around with a girly, floral-dress-wearing, tiny blonde girl that barely reaches up to his chin.

What a weird couple (adorable, but weird).

He snarls at Natsu. "I got that, but why are we in the cat food aisle, Stupid?" he snaps, irritated with the remark. "Buying dog food" he says. They're nowhere near the dog food!

Natsu lurches to his feet, a bag of cat food slung over his shoulder. He glares back at Gray, finally rising to the challenge. "I have a cat, too, Dumbass." The cat food is dropped into the shopping cart, freeing Natsu's hands, which clench into fists. Gray's own fingers twitch, itching to curl into a fist so he can clock the other male.

"Oi!" A voice cuts in. Two heads snap around, meeting the gaze of a bored, dark-haired male, his hair pulled back in a bun and little triangles tattooed on his face. "Would you two knock it off?" he drawls lazily. "I'd rather you not mess up my store when I'm giving you a discount, Natsu." He gives them a pointed look, leaning back in his chair at the counter.

The male in question coughs, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "Yeah, sorry, Bacchus. It won't happen again." He shoots Gray a poisonous look. " _Right, Gray?_ "

"Err, yeah," he chokes out, hands falling back to his sides. "We won't cause anymore trouble, Bacchus." To be completely honest, Bacchus terrifies him. He acts like he doesn't care, but he's known for busting a few heads back during his high school days. He could totally beat the two of them up if he really wanted to, so it's best not to make him angry.

Bacchus, glares at them for another moment, then shrugs and goes back to sleeping at the counter—which is very irresponsible, but Gray doesn't want to say anything about how Bacchus runs his store, lest the two of them be kicked out and left to face Lucy's wrath when they return without any animal food.

Because, yes. Gray _is_ way more afraid of Lucy than he should be, but it's only because he's seen her pour hot coffee over the head of a guy who dared to grab her ass during her shift at a dinner during their Freshman year of college.

You have not experienced true terror until you see a teeny tiny blonde pour ridiculously hot liquid over a man's head, all with a smile on her face.

Frankly, he's glad it's Natsu dating her, rather than himself.

Natsu laughs under his breath, running a hand over his face. "I thought he was going to kill us," he murmurs, lips pulling up in a smile.

"I know, right?" They share a laugh, a complete one-eighty from moments earlier.

Natsu shakes his head. "Alright, we better grab the dog food before Lucy starts wondering what's taking us so long." Gray nods in agreement, following Natsu as they head to other side of the story. Why is the dog food so far away from the cat food? Wouldn't it make more sense to keep them close together? That would make things so much easier for people with both animals. Gray can understand keeping the actual animals apart—because that could end very, very badly—but the food?

He doesn't have long to ponder this, because the two of them reach the dog kibble soon enough.

And there they are. Fifty different brands of unappetizing, crunchy, smelly food meant for furry, four-legged animals that usually smell less than stellar. Wonder which one they'll get.

"So, what am I looking for exactly?" he asks Natsu, keeping his eyes on the rows and rows of kibble.

"Canidae."

Gray nods, searching for the brand. "And we just grab one, right?" Natsu sputters, choking for a moment, before doubling over and clutching his stomach. For a moment, Gray thinks he might be hurt, but his concern disappears just as suddenly when he realizes the other male is laughing. What the hell is so funny? It was a simple question. Natsu drops down to his knees, and Gray has the sudden urge to kick him.

Actually, it's not so much sudden as it is "he wants to kick him all the time, but now he has an excuse to do it." He glares at his downed friend, crossing his arms and sneering. Sure, he doesn't know that much about animals, but one bag should be enough, right?

They only have one dog.

Natsu's hand reaches out blindly, groping the air until his fingers catch the fabric of Gray's pants near his knee. He wheezes, coughing as he tries to catch his breath. "Gray," he gasps, sounding more than a little amused. Gray rolls his eyes, jerking his leg away from his (douche bag) friend. He took time out of his busy—that's a lie, if Natsu hadn't have called him he'd be at home watching reruns of Spanish Soap Operas all day. Which is weird, because he doesn't even speak Spanish—schedule to help his best friend go shopping for pet stuff, even though Gray doesn't even like animals.

Conclusion? Gray is the motherfucking best friend ever and Natsu's an asshole.

"Dammit, Natsu," Gray snaps, dragging the pathetic pink-haired boy to his feet. "I was trying to be nice you dick!"

Natsu shoves him away, trying to swallow back his laughter. He can't hide the smile on his face though. "Sorry," he says, not sounding sorry at all. "It's just—do you seriously think that we just need one bag of dog food?" He laughs again, but tries to cover it up with a cough. _Tries_. Gray gives him a sour look, jaw clenching.

"You only have one dog," he grumbles back, arms crossed.

Natsu snorts. "Yeah, we only own one dog, but Lucy and I run a doggy daycare," he reminds him. "We take care of an extra fifteen dogs everyday. One of them is a Great Dane—"

"Is his name 'Tiny?' " Gray interjects.

Natsu glares. "No, his name is Milo." He rolls his eyes. "As I was saying, we take care of sixteen dogs everyday. So, we used to go through almost a bag a day, until we started buying the twenty-four pound bags." Gray gives him a horrified look. They go through a ten pound bag of food everyday? Holy shit!

Gray is super glad that he doesn't have pets.

He swallows thickly. "So how many bags are we buying?"

Natsu grins. "Three."

Gray could cry. Three bags of dog food, which will only last a week? He officially has a whole new respect for his crazy friends. He can't even handle goldfish, but these two take care of nearly twenty animals, five days a week. That must be furry Hell.

Wait, that doesn't sound right.

Gray watches in silence as Natsu hoists a bag off the shelf and sets it into the cart. "Do you think you could grab two more bags off that and meet me buy the toy aisle? I have a feeling we're going to need some new one's soon." He doesn't wait for an answer, just turns on his heel and leaves Gray alone with a bunch of dog kibble and a shopping cart.

Nice.

Rolling his eyes, Gray steps up to the food Natsu grabbed earlier, attempting to lift both bags at once.

It doesn't work.

The bags are too big for his arms to go around both of the without potentially dropping them, and he really doesn't want Bacchus to chase him out of the store because of a kibble catastrophe. Not only would that be incredibly embarrassing, but Lucy and Natsu would be mad and he'd have to look into the eyes of a bunch of sad furry animals and—even though he doesn't like animals—the puppy dog eyes get him _every single time_.

They just look so sad and act like it's their fault—and they only want to be loved.

Whoa, Gray! That's enough of that!

He grabs one bag and tosses it into the cart, then grabs the other and does the same. He doesn't understand why Natsu couldn't have stayed for the two seconds it took to do that, but at this point he really doesn't care. He's just ready to go home and catch the rest of his Soap. Hopefully, Lyon will still be out with his girlfriend and he won't have to worry about the teasing.

Sighing, Gray shakes his head and pushes the cart to the dog toy aisle.

Where he does not find Natsu.

God dammit! If that bastard left him here to pay the bill—

"Natsu I'm going to kill you," he snarls under his breath, his grip on the cart tightening until his knuckles turn white. Prowling out of the aisle like a deranged animal, Gray stalks around the store in search of his idiot friend, peeking into aisles and grumbling swear words under his breath every thirty seconds. A lady with her son—who's too busy sticking his fingers into the ferret cage to pay any attention to what gray is saying—shoots him a rather nasty glare, and he turns away, pretending to be interested in the aisle of colorful fish.

His eye twitches when he sees who's over there.

It's his fucking best friend staring at the fucking fish with a pile of fucking dog toys on the floor by his feet, not paying any fucking attention to Gray—oh, no, he's too busy staring at the shinny swimmy things and probably thinking about his fucking girlfriend (or fucking his girlfriend. Gray isn't sure which.)

Fucking great.

Gray stomps—as well as one can stomp with a shopping cart—over to the pink-haired dirtbag and smacks the back of his head while he's distracted. Natsu yelps, head snapping around to find the culprit, and narrows his eyes when he realizes it's Gray.

"What the hell did you do that for?" he snaps,

Gray considers strangling him.

"You said you would be in the toy aisle!" he snarls, fingers itching to bash him over the head again. "Well, I went to the toy aisle and guess who wasn't fucking there!" he hisses.

Natsu blinks at him. "I got what I needed to get." He shrugs, pointing down at the various toys by his feet. "So I decided to look at the fish instead. Besides, you found me, so what's the big deal?"

Gray opens his mouth to retaliate, but his anger fizzles away when he realizes there isn't one. This is the only interesting thing that's happened to him all week. He doesn't have anything better to be doing.

Natsu turns back to the fish.

Gray joins him.

"I'm getting one," Natsu tells him after several minutes, his gaze locked on the Betta fish. Gray rolls his eyes, looking at the wall of blue fish. That's just what Natsu and Lucy need. Another blue pet to add to their collection.

"Lucy's going to kill you for bringing another one home," he says simply.

Natsu shakes his head, ignoring him. "Grab me a bowl and some rocks, will you?" Gray rolls his eyes again, but complies. Luckily, he doesn't have to go far. The fish bowls are conveniently placed right beside the fish.

He grabs a decent sized bowl, a bag of small rocks, some fake plants, and fish food.

"So, which one did you pick?" he asks, turning around and waiting for the inevitable. Of course, the two nerds would get another blue pet. What with their kooky obsession with them. He laughs a little, but nearly chokes at the fish in Natsu's hands.

"I picked this one!"

Gray stares, eyes snapping from the fish, to Natsu, and then back to the fish. "It's… red?" he gasps, eyes wide and confused. Natsu just grins.

"Isn't it pretty?" he asks, holding the fish closer to Gray. "Look at his fins, isn't that so cool?!"

Gray sputters. "Why isn't it blue?"

Natsu sends him a strange look. "Why would it be blue?"

Mouth dropping open in shock, Gray blubbers unintelligently. "All of your pets are blue!" Natsu's eyes narrow in confusion, so Gray continues. "Happy is a Russian blue!"

"Yeah, but he's grey."

"And Blue— _you literally named your dog Blue_ —is a blue heeler!"

"He's an Australian cattle dog, and that was his name when we adopted him," Natsu replies, shrugging. "Besides, what does that have to do with me buying this fish?"

He considers tearing his hair out. "It's not blue!"

* * *

After dragging the dog food bags into the garage, Natsu heads for the door, bracing himself for the inevitable impact of sixteen dogs jumping on him at full force. The fish—already in it's bowl thanks to Gray, who set the entire thing up on the drive home—which is totally another story of it's own, because Natsu ran two stop signs, nearly killed a man on a scooter, and Gray almost dropped the fish out the window—is tucked between his arm and his chest, cradled against him as he pushes the door open slowly.

Silence.

Now, that wouldn't be a big deal, except, once again, there are sixteen dogs, a cat, and his probably angry girlfriend in the house. Silence is not a good thing. Clearing his throat, Natsu calls out to her. "Lucy? Are you here?" He pulls a face at the stupid question. Of course she's here. Where the hell else would she be? She couldn't have just left with all sixteen dogs! He loves Lucy to death and thinks she's a pretty strong girl for being so tiny, but those dogs would rip her arms off if she tried to walk them by herself. "Umm, I know I took a long time, but it was for a good reason!" Nothing.

A whine pulls at his throat, and he heads to the living room, knowing that's probably where she is. Casting a quick glance around the house, he realizes that all of the lights are off. Panic floods through him, his heart leaping into his throat. Dear god, she's going to kill him!

He makes it to the living room without seeing a single animal, and that's absolutely terrifying.

He freezes. Wait, did they even have work today? He left before people would have started dropping off their dogs, so he's not sure. Oh god! If he forgot their anniversary again—

He bolts for the living room, entering into complete darkness.

"Lucy?" he calls.

The lights snap on, blinding him for several seconds.

When he regains his sight, he almost wishes he hadn't.

Because he found his girlfriend! But he also found the dogs.

Lucy is sitting in the armchair in the corner, arms crossed, one leg tossed over the other, and an incredibly unhappy look on her face. Happy is on the armrest, legs dangling off the side and snoozing away as Natsu approaches his impending doom. And the dogs? They're sitting on the floor, tails wagging and looking about ready to jump on him.

Oh dear…

Natsu swallows, heart beating out of his chest as Lucy's gaze locks with his. He takes a deep breath, steeling himself. "So, I know I'm late, but I can explain." Lucy looks less than impressed. "Well, Gray went with to help—and you know how Gray and I are! And then I was distracted by this kid who was trying to shove his entire arm into the ferret cage, and—"

"You," Lucy practically hisses at him. Her normally friendly, happy brown eyes that he wants to drown in, are unbelievably cold. He flinches, looking very much like a kicked puppy. Lucy continues. "You left me here with sixteen dogs and a cat so you could go buy food and you come home with _another_ pet?" she seethes, glaring at him.

"Yes?" he asks timidly. Lucy is not amused by him shoving his own foot in his mouth. Natsu groans, running his free hand down his face. Maybe he should just grab the shovel and start digging. "His name is Swedish," he tells her, shifting the bowl in his arms so that he can hold it out to her. Coughing in embarrassment, he continues. "Like the candy, because I know you like them."

Her gaze softens just a bit. "Natsu, put the fish down." She gestures to the bookshelf next to the entryway. Already knowing what she's about to do, he sets the fish down with a heavy heart, giving her a pleading look.

"Babe, please…" he tries—

Lucy smiles. "Sic 'em."

Less than two seconds later, Natsu finds himself on his back on the floor, hairy bodies trampling all over him and slobbering on his face. Lucy laughs at his misfortune, and Natsu resigns himself to lying there in defeat as the dogs give him kisses—yeah, totally _not_ who he wanted kisses from. The breath slams from his lungs as Milo—the ever loving, clumsy as fuck Great Dane steps on his stomach. He wheezes, but it's almost immediately lost in Winnie the Poodle's fur—no joke. Some idiot actually named their poodle "Winnie the Poodle."

Sammy—the Cairn terrier—and T-Bone—a Staffordshire bull terrier—take turns jumping on his face. Charlie the German shepherd it standing on his kidney, Luna the basset hound won't stop baying in his ear, and Pugsly is trying to eat his foot. Atlas the golden retriever and Gus the Labrador have taken his right shoe and are playing "keep away" with Alfie, a bulldog who's much too slow and short to play with the bigger dogs, but he tries anyway. Sailor, an Old English sheepdog is sitting on Scooter, a border collie, and Zeus and Zelda—a Husky and Australian shepherd, respectively—have taken his other shoe.

And Blue? Blue is sitting by his mom with what Natsu thinks is a smug look—as if he were laughing at him. Asshole.

Natsu frowns. That's only fifteen. There should be sixteen dogs.

He squeezes his eyes shut, counting them off in his head.

Milo, Winnie the Poodle, Sammy, T-Bone, Charlie, Luna, Pugsly, Atlas, Gus, Alfie, Sailor, Scooter, Zeus, Zelda, Blue—

 _Princess._

Natsu gasps in horror, trying to look for the tiny devil through the sea of hair. A low, almost cute, growl comes from his right and Natsu stills. "Lucy, keep it away from me!" He doesn't want that tiny, bearded, demon dog anywhere near him!

She laughs again. "Alright, guys, go on." The dogs scatter, taking off into the house. Natsu twists to his right, but Princess has already disappeared back into the shadows.

He relaxes, sitting up and smiling when Blue trots up to him, tail wagging happily. Natsu's grin widens. "Hey there, Blue!" he scratches behind the dog's ears, receiving a kiss and a happy bark before the dog runs back to his chair and plops down, leaving him alone to talk with Lucy.

She reaches a hand out to him, and he contemplates pulling her down to the floor with him, but decides against it upon seeing the absolute _glee_ in her eyes. His smile turns soft as he helps her pull him up, an arm wrapping around her back as she peers at the newest addition to their family, scrutinizing him.

Natsu's thumb rubs circles into her back as Lucy leans into him, her head resting on his shoulder as she stares at the new fish.

"He's pretty," she tells him after a moment. Natsu squeezes her hip, seemingly in agreement. "But, why is he red?"

Natsu makes a face, bewildered. "Why does everyone keep asking that?" "Everyone" being "Gray."

Lucy tilts her head to meet his eyes. "All of our pets are blue," she explains, giving him a confused look, as if she doesn't understand why Natsu is confused.

His eyes narrow. "Lucy, what are you talking about?" he asks, completely serious. None of their pets are actually blue, so why is the color an important thing? He just got the red one because he was pretty! Is that such a crime?

Lucy twists out of his arms, turning to face him completely. He feels like he's missing some kind of joke, but he doesn't know what it is.

"Natsu, we only have blue pets," she tells him, gesturing to Happy and Blue—the name "Blue" probably isn't helping his case any, but he stands by the fact that they don't own any blue pets.

Natsu grins down at her, deciding to mess with her a little bit. "I can't understand what you're saying, Lucy," he teases, trying to sound completely serious. "There are no blue animals in my house!"

Lucy rolls her eyes. "I—"

"What?" he asks, cutting her off.

Lucy giggles. "Natsu—"

He shakes his head. "Nope!"

"What are you—"

"I'm going to kiss you now," he tells her, then proceeds to do so. He leans down, capturing Lucy's lips with his own. She smiles against him, arms looping around his neck and tangling in his hair. His left arm snakes around her hips, drawing her soft body flush against his. The knuckles of his other hand trailing over her cheek. She tugs him down to her, lips pressing against his harder as she deepens it, and he smiles, knowing that she's standing on her toes to kiss him.

"Woof." Natsu's eyes snap open and he reluctantly pulls away from Lucy, both of them turning to Blue, who's looking up at them and wagging his tail—that cock-blocker.

Lucy looks up at him, and he gives her a curious look, to which she just smiles. "I think it's time for a walk."

Great.

"You're taking Milo."

Fuck.

* * *

Natsu groans, feeling like his arm is about to be ripped off. Not only does he have Milo, but he has most of the other big dogs as well. Meanwhile, Lucy has all of the smaller dogs, Scooter, and Blue—not that he really minds. The dogs practically drag him around, so if he and Lucy were to switch, she'd be halfway down the street by now. And that would be really, _really_ bad.

He shoots her a mock sour look, though his lips twist into a smile as he sees the happy look on her face. Damn that girl and her ability to make him smile every time he sees her. "Why is it that you get all the tiny dogs, and I'm stuck with these giraffes?" He gestures to the bigger dogs just as Milo trips over his own legs, nearly taking Zeus and Charlie down with him. He snorts, amused. Milo hasn't grown into his legs yet, and it's kind of hilarious to watch him trip all over himself.

Natsu's just glad that he's never hurt himself.

Lucy raises a brow at him, lips twitching. "You weigh nearly fifty pounds more than me," she reminds him, looking him up and down—obviously checking him out. Wait, does it still count if they've been dating for almost four years and they've seen each other naked—okay, maybe that was too much information. But hey! He really enjoys seeing her naked! And by the way she's eying him, he can only assume she feels the same way.

He grins down at her, glaring at her playfully. He would do something with his hands right now, but they're currently occupied by the overly-excited dogs. Holy crap, is he walking them, or is it the other way around? "Hey! I'm a solid wall of pure muscle!" he tells her, wiggling his eyebrows.

She laughs, transferring the dogs to one hand. "Oh, I know," she says, patting his stomach with her now free hand. "Believe me, I know. And I appreciate it _very_ much." He laughs along with her, nudging her with his hip. Lucy bumps him back as they pass the pond in the park. God, he loves this girl.

"Alright, but why can't I have at least one of the little dogs?" he asks after a moment of silence, peeking at her out of the corner of his eye. He really wants to grab her hand right now, but he can't do that without putting all of the leashes in one hand—which would be a disaster. He needs one of those dog walking belts. That would make this so much easier.

Lucy quirks a brow, taking a single leash in one hand and holding it out to him. "You want Princess?" she asks. The brown, bearded, demon dog lunges for him, but Natsu slips behind Milo, using the larger dog as a wall ward off the beast.

Natsu glares. "Keep that thing away from me!" he growls, snarling at the creature, who growls back.

Lucy giggles. "I don't see why you have such a problem with her. She's not that bad." She shrugs, sending Natsu a look that's more than just amused.

Natsu sends the tiny dog a disgusted look. "She always eats my shoe—only the left one!" he reminds her. Lucy rolls her eyes good-naturedly. She stops suddenly, turning to face him directly. Natsu follows suit, looking down at her gently as she grins at him.

"Natsu, all of the dogs chew on your shoes. You want to know why?" she asks. He doesn't, but she continues anyway. "It's because you're shoes stink." He opens his mouth to argue, but stops when he realizes she's right.

"Fair enough."

They laugh together, and suddenly Scooter jumps at Zelda, knocking Lucy into Natsu's chest as the dogs freak out. Leashes are tangled around their legs, keeping them locked together, their knees knocking together as Natsu attempts to keep the two of them from crashing to the ground. Lucy manages to slip all of her leashes into one hand, grasping onto Natsu's shoulder with the other. Meanwhile, Natsu fumbles with where to place his hands, settling with wrapping them around her waist as best as he can.

Lucy's breath catches in her throat, lips skimming Natsu's neck. He swallows thickly, heart beating out of control despite the fact that they've been together for a while now. He pulls back enough to meet her eyes, hands slipping lower on her back. You know what? He loves these dogs! If Lucy ever agrees to marry him, they're all invited to the wedding!

His nose bumps hers and he gives her a goofy grin. "You know, I think they want us to kiss," he whispers to Lucy, pressing her body closer to his chest. Lucy's fingers tangle with the hairs at the nape of his neck.

She shakes her head, giving him an incredulous look. "Are you kidding me right now?" she asks, bewildered.

He pretends to think it over, humming to himself. He meets her eyes again. "Nope!" He swoops down, cutting off any protest she might have as his lips press to hers. Lucy's eyes slip shut, her fingers twisting against his scalp. His palm presses against her back, several leashes slipping away without him noticing. Lucy arm slips around his neck dragging him down to her inviting lips. Natsu grasps her tightly, heart beating out of control as he swings her around suddenly to drop her into a dip. Lucy gasps against him, a squeak leaving her at the sudden change of balance.

His teeth nip at her lower lip gently, followed by his tongue brushing the same place. A soft, keening sound leaves the back of her throat, but he swallows it quickly, pulling her impossibly closer. He groans against her, tongue sliding across the seam of her lips, demanding entrance that she grants easily enough. His tongue sweeps into her mouth, brushing everywhere, skimming over the back of her teeth and the roof of her mouth, wrapping around her own, already familiar with her.

He pulls away just as suddenly as he kissed her, but Lucy drags him back down without so much as a word. A pressure tugs at his leg, but he ignores it.

"Woof!" Two pairs of eyes snap open as their gravity suddenly shifts. The two of them fall backwards as their legs are yanked out from under them. Natsu, thinking fast, twists them so that Lucy lands against his chest, knocking the wind out of him as the sound of barking fills his ears.

Oh shit.

Above him, Lucy gasps, pushing herself up onto her knees as the dogs scatter, disappearing from sight before either of them can regain their bearings.

Lucy glances down at him, horrified. Natsu stares back with a similar look. "We're horrible pet parents," she tells him simply, looking about ready to cry.

He nods, chewing his lip as he remembers something. "We have to get the dogs back before six."

Shit.

* * *

 **AN: Thanks for reading guys ^_^ Kaeli and I would really appreciate it if you guys would leave some reviews for us! there's only 17 chapters left, and this will be update every Friday!**


	2. Because of Winn-Dixie

**AN: Here we are with chapter two! Kaeli wrote this one, and the next is mine! Reviews are very much appreciated!**

 **Dog Days**

 **Chapter Two: Because of Winn-Dixie**

First things first, they need a game plan.

Natsu watches helplessly as the last furry behind rounds the corner, hightailing it out of there with no more than a backwards glance at the couple tangled together on the ground. The words _shit shit shit_ repeat in his head as Lucy wastes no time trying to push herself to her feet. "Trying" being a very important word there. One elbow to the ribs, his hand grabbing somewhere highly inappropriate, and a knee dangerously close to his groin later, and Lucy is standing above him with a horrified expression on her face, twisting and turning in several directions as though not sure which way to go first. It's too bad they can't multiply.

Wait, that didn't sound quite right.

"W-what do we do _now_?" She whirls around to face him, her eyes wide and desperate as she bends down to help him up, her hands reaching out for his. His fingers lock with hers easily, and he finds himself jerked to his feet as she tugs with both of her hands. He's mildly surprised that she was able to lift him so easily. He's not exactly a small guy. It must be the adrenalin. He's read stories about mothers lifting cars off their babies and stuff like that. Wow, Lucy would make a pretty great mom! Her eyes bore into his, her bottom lip stuck between her teeth. "Do we split up?" she asks shakily. "You know, to cover more ground?"

"No," Natsu shakes his head, taking a second to think as he brushes dirt from his jeans. Not that the dirt really bothers him, considering it kind of goes with the ripped, edgy look that he's been sporting since his freshman year of college, but staring down at the faded denim gives him an excuse to look away from his girlfriend's wide, panicked brown eyes.

"There's way too many of them to try and split up." Especially considering that Lucy would probably end up being dragged off somewhere with all of the dogs. With a heavy sigh, he stands back up and places his hands on his hips, trying to buy himself some time as he looks around absentmindedly. "We'll be better off if we stick together, so that way one of us can round them up while the other takes the leashes."

Well, it's a good idea in theory, at least. What's the worst that could happen if they stick together? Natsu bites down on the inside of his cheek, crossing his fingers that things start to go their way soon. Lord knows they need all the luck they can get right now. If this is bad karma coming back to bite him in the ass for cheating at strip-poker he's going to be pissed.

"Okay," Lucy nods slowly, wringing her hands together nervously and taking short, shallow breaths, fingers trembling. He winces, not entirely sure whether she actually agrees with him about it being a good idea, or if she's just taking time to process everything that's happened. She's always been the more dedicated of the two when it came to work, this mistake must be killing her inside. He watches as she takes a deep breath, turning away from him to try a Hail Mary and whistle in case any of the dogs had decided to stick close by.

Fat chance.

Natsu makes a note to keep an eye on the blonde until things started to smooth out; while his girlfriend is undeniably brilliant and resourceful in every way, she's been known to occasionally melt when under too much pressure…

Not that he blames her in this case.

Sixteen potentially very, _very_ upset dog owners coming to collect their furry babies—and Princess—only to be told that their entrusted caretakers had _lost_ them would be… not good. That would be very not good. That would be so not good that he'd have to get a real job.

He doesn't want a real job. He wants the fun, financially profitable job where he gets to pet animals.

Natsu gulps, rubbing his sweaty palms against the denim of his already hopeless jeans, upon realizing that his future is at stake.

"Well, who should we go after first then?" His eyes drop to Lucy's as she looks up at him, still shifting her weight from side to side as if preparing to sprint off in the first direction he manages to spit out—which is funny because Lucy hates running. She starts bouncing on her toes as she thinks out loud. "Milo is a menace to himself," she mumbles, turning to look down the street where they'd last seen the Great Dane take off. "But," she turned her head, now facing the opposite direction leading towards town, "Princess is a menace to society. Maybe we should go after her—"

Natsu snorts, holding up one finger to silence his favorite blonde. "I'm gonna stop you right there," he tells her, shaking his head. "We aren't going after Satan's mutt until we absolutely have to."

"She's not a _mutt_." Lucy pauses her pacing, coming to a standstill in front of Natsu while placing her hands on her hips, lips pressed into a thin line, eyes narrowed. "She's a griffon bru… uh," she blinks, cocking her head to the side. "She's a griffon something."

Natsu's lip curls back as he rolls his eyes. "She's wookiee offspring is what she is."

He jumps back on his heels, just barely managing to get out of the line of fire as she aims a light slap for his shoulder. Yeah, he totally should have seen that coming.

"Well, what about our friends?" she frowns, changing the subject. "Should we call them for help?" She turns her head to look down the street, as if hopeful that all sixteen dogs—including their _own_ , that traitor—would come running over the hill as if to say " _haha, just kidding! That sure was a fun game of hide-and-seek, right?"_

If he didn't feel so screwed, Natsu would have fallen to his knees for the second time that day, no doubt laughing his ass off at the very idea of calling _him_ for help in this particular situation. "Have you _met_ Gray?" He laughs, but it's quickly choked off when she widens her eyes at him, tears burning at the backs of her eyes. "B-but, it's always a possibility!" he reassures. The last thing he wants is for Lucy to start crying, because he has no idea what to do, and her being upset makes him feel horrible.

"Besides," he shrugs, rubbing the knot that's forming between his shoulder blades thanks to the stress of those damn dogs. "He may not be very willing, but he's really our only option since he's the only one who lives in the area. Everyone else would take too long to get here." Lucy nods, silently agreeing.

Ultimately, they seem to have decided to keep Gray on reserve as their Plan B, or perhaps it would be more appropriate to refer to it as "Plan _G_."

Okay, not funny.

Gray _really_ dislikes animals, but that's okay, because the feeling seems to be mutual.

Except for one rather large exception, which happens to be Milo. The Great Dane has a really soft spot for the dark-haired boy for reasons that Natsu has yet been able to figure out. However, it's pretty unlucky for Gray, who's terrified of the giant dog.

* * *

" _You guys, that is_ not _a dog," Gray gulped the first time he'd made the mistake of stopping by Natsu and Lucy's place during the workweek. "That's a fucking horse!" He made quick work hiding behind an unamused Lucy, who was busy refilling the numerous assortment of water bowls._

" _Damn it, Gray," Lucy groaned when he caused her to slosh water all over herself, dousing the both of them. She yelped when Gray all but attempted to jump on her back when Princess got too close, trying to nip his exposed ankles while Pugsley tried to steal his shoelaces._

* * *

Natsu laughed his ass off that day, his friend's freak-out too good to pass up considering Milo wouldn't hurt a fly—unless that fly happened to be unlucky enough to find itself in the way when the clumsy oaf would trip over his own, too-long giraffe legs.

It's been almost two months since the incident, but Natsu still cherishes the photos on his phone that he'd snapped that day, and is still weighing the pros and cons of uploading the video on the internet.

Natsu rolls his wrist over to check his watch, frowning at the small window of time they have to round up _sixteen_ dogs that have scattered in all directions. He runs a quick hand through his already messy hair, beginning to feel pretty helpless himself.

His resolves only wears even more when he catches Lucy staring up at him, as if waiting for him to step up and take charge of the situation. Not feeling quite sure if he's up to the task, the young man sighs, stepping forward to wrap his arms around her waist in a quick hug, pressing his lips to the top of her head to help calm her nerves—and his own.

Surprisingly, it helps. Natsu feels himself smirking before he even realizes why he's doing it. But, as his gaze falls on his girlfriend of four years, he can't help but be reminded of something:

He always _has_ loved a challenge.

"See anything?"

Natsu tightens his grip on Lucy's waist, keeping her steady as she balances on top of a trashcan to help give them a better vantage point. He doesn't inform her that it gives _him_ a pretty sweet vantage point as well. He doesn't want her trying to hit him again, after all.

He gives her hips a small, reassuring squeeze when he hears her heavy sigh as she reports back, "No, unfortunately. Not one slobber trail in sight."

Natsu smirks. "Which means Pugsley probably isn't anywhere in the vicinity."

She nudges him with her hip, but he knows she's trying to hold back a smile.

He tightens his hold on her briefly, leaning forward to press his lips on the exposed part of her hip where her shirt has ridden up. "You know, I keep waiting to hear someone scream when Zeus tries to take their left shoe."

Lucy snorts. "Or Atlas trying to take their right." Her eyes widen as she nearly loses her balance, her sandals not allowing very much traction against the trashcan's slick surface. She uses the top of Natsu's head to help steady herself, and the man winces when her fingers grip his hair painfully tight before he quickly helps her down (in a different situation, his reaction would be entirely different).

"Natsu." Lucy bites her lip as she grips his hands, carefully hopping down from her perch. "We really need to find them," she whispers.

They'd decided to venture to a nearby park that they frequented often on nice days, hoping to find at least _one_ (if not more) of the dogs rolling around in the mud or harassing a couple of teenagers trying to play ultimate frisbee. Zeus and Zelda in particular were fond of any and all who played with frisbees.

"We _will_ find them," he reassures her, taking her hand and hurrying along down the trail. "We've just gotta—"

" _Woof_!"

Two pairs of eyes widen as the sound cuts Natsu off, and when they whirl around on their heels, at their feet is a spunky, cream-colored Cairn terrier panting happily at the sight of his sitters. He jumps playfully at Natsu which results in two muddy paw prints on the knees of his jeans, not that the boy even cares anymore, though they _are_ his favorite pair.

Natsu's eyes light up. "Winn-Dixie!" he shouts, sounding more than a little insane.

Beside him, Lucy rolls her eyes and swats her boyfriend's shoulder with the back of her hand. "I told you to stop calling him that, you'll only confuse him. Besides, Winn-Dixie and Sammy aren't even the same _breed_ , you dork."

Natsu ignores her comment, laughing as he bends down to ruffle the little guy's ears with both hands, the feeling of relief almost proving overwhelming as Sammy licks his palms and barks once more. "Good to have you back, little buddy!"

"Um, why are you touching my dog?"

Natsu stills at the new, tiny voice that let's itself be known, and that's when the young man realizes that Sammy's leash isn't trailing the ground like it should be. Which… would imply that someone else is holding the dog's leash…

Someone that _isn't_ Natsu or Lucy.

Slowly, starting at the collar, Natsu's eyes trail up the light blue material of Sammy's leash, following the line until he comes face to face with a little girl who can't be any older than six. She's not very tall, about eye-level with Natsu who is kneeling down. Her hair is pulled back into a low ponytail that probably has come loose during her time on the playground, and her lips have a red outline around them that looks very… sticky. Eww.

"Uh, hi?" he says, the words sounding more like a question than a greeting.

"Hi," the girl gives him a grin that reveals the loss of one front tooth before quickly getting back to business. She's quick to repeat herself, pointing to Natsu's hand. "Why are you touching my dog?"

Natsu can already feel a headache coming on. "Sorry, _your_ dog?"

"Yeah," the young girl retorts with as much sass as a six year old can muster. " _I_ found her sniffing by the sandbox, which means she's mine now! Finder's keepers!" She bends down, swatting the man's hand away so that she could pat Sammy on the head. (Natsu chooses to ignore the tongue she sticks out at him.)

He doesn't have it in him to tell the girl that the dog is actually a _boy_ , and he finds himself praying that the girl found Sammy _before_ he could make good use of that sandbox.

If not, Natsu's heart goes out to the people who would have to take care of _that_ mess.

Sammy is a sweet dog, but he could be a real little shit when he wanted to be.

"Sweetie," the man snaps back to attention at Lucy's soft tone as she bends down beside him, her words aimed at the girl. "I'm really sorry, but this dog is in our care right now." As if to help prove her point, she stuck out her hand for Sammy to sniff, and the dog happily licked her fingers in greeting. "Thank you for taking such good care of him— _her_ , of her—but we'd really appreciate it now if—"

Both Natsu and Lucy's eyes widen comically when the girl lets out a sudden wail that hurts both of their ears; Sammy's howl soon joining into the mix.

The young girl sobs. "You're trying to take my new puppy away from me!"

Bewildered, Natsu holds up his hands and shakes his head, trying in vain to shush the girl before her crying could attract any unwanted attention and give people the wrong idea.

 _Damn it, Natsu. Think!_

Except, _without_ thinking it through, he suddenly blurts out, "We'll do whatever you want! Just _please_ stop crying!"

To his surprise, the girl's cries stop almost immediately, and she grins brightly at the pair. "Really?"

It's such a quick mood change that Natsu would've laughed if he didn't feel so played. He turns to Lucy, who looks just as stunned as he feels, and mumbles under his breath, "What kind of conniving kid…?"

The little girl is unfazed by the pair in front of her, however, as she's too busy tapping her chin in thought. "Uh, um…" she frowns, as if Natsu and Lucy are genies and she's faced with making the three most important wishes of her life.

Natsu raises a brow at how hard she seems to be thinking about her request.

"Oh, I know! Kiss each other!"

Definitely not what he'd been expecting.

Natsu turns to Lucy, who shrugs, and gives his girlfriend a quick peck on the lips. There's a beat of silence as they turn back to the girl, who's frowning.

"Well," she huffs, folding her arms and giving them both a little pout. "That was boring."

Natsu pinches the bridge of his nose. _You've gotta be kidding me._

"Okay," he says, "we did what you wanted. Now can we please—"

"Ooh ooh, I know!" The little girl acts like Natsu hadn't said anything as she points a little, probably sticky, finger at him. "Be a _horsy_!"

"A what?" he deadpans, wondering if she's being serious while _really_ hoping that she isn't.

She gives him a look as if to say _yeah, you heard me. Do you need me to spell it out for you?_

Natsu feels himself become offended by the six-year old's hypothetical words that he'd made up in his head, grumbling to himself, _I bet you_ _don't even know_ how _to spell it_.

Lucy giggles despite herself from beside him, reaching out to stroke Sammy's fur before turning her attention to the six-year old.

"What if I told you that if you give us this dog, then we could come back with another one that's like an _actual_ horsy!"

Natsu snorts at the idea of this girl riding Milo like a horse, wondering how long the dog would make it before tripping over a blade of grass that happened to be a centimeter longer than the rest.

The girl only shakes her head, however, tightening her grip on the leash. "You're lying!" She turns to Natsu with her lower lip sticking out in a pout, her large eyes filling with tears as she begs, "Be a horsy! A horsey! A horsey!"

"But I don't _wanna_ be a horsy!" Natsu whines before noting his mistake, quickly clearing his throat and deepening his voice an octave or two. "Uh, _horse_. I meant horse."

He hears Lucy's exasperated sigh from his right. "Come on, Natsu." Her eyes are pleading with him, and he knows she's as desperate to get away from the little girl as he is. The longer they stay here, the less time they'll have to round up the others. "Be a horsey, just for a little while. Please?"

"No."

"Natsu—"

"It's above my pay-grade."

"You've _got_ to be be joking—"

"Not gonna do it."

He raises a brow at seeing Lucy roll her eyes, and he holds his breath as she leans in close enough that her lips are right at his ear, so that way the girl can't hear her words as she softly promises, "I'll make it worth your while."

Damn.

 _Well, at least Gray isn't here to see this._ Natsu could just _picture_ the smug bastard's smirk as he begrudgingly drops to his hands and knees, wincing when he can feel himself sinking into the soft ground. He grits his teeth as the young girl cheers, nearly stepping on his fingers with the heels of her boots as she hops up and down before clamoring up onto his back.

He winces when her bony little knees press into his back as she steps up, that is until Lucy decides to stop giggling behind her hands—Natsu feels his blood run cold when he thinks he hears the sound of her phone's camera go off—and helps the girl get settled.

"Yay!" The girl cheers, using her tiny cowboy boots to kick him in the ribs to get him going, and Natsu wrinkles his nose at the feeling of the mud squish between his fingers as he crawls forward.

 _These damn dogs will be the death of me,_ he groans, silently thinking of individual curses for each of the sixteen traitors before hearing Lucy scream from somewhere behind him.

"Sammy!"

Natsu's eyes widen as he exasperatedly wonders, _what now?_

He ignores the girl as she kicks his sides again—he is _really_ beginning to hate cowboy boots—and instead ducks his head down to peer between his own legs just in time to see an upside down view of his girlfriend as she chases after a small terrier that's darting across the park's lawn.

The girl must've dropped the leash before Lucy was close enough to grab it.

 _You've_ got _to me kidding me_. Natsu would've collapsed to the ground in defeat right then and there if he wasn't currently responsible for the safety of the _very_ annoying six year old on his back.

He's a grown man, dammit, and a good person! Just _what_ had he done to deserve such shitty karma?

After he made quick work of emptying his pockets for crumpled dollar bills and loose change, he left the little girl by the swings where other children were playing—he isn't about to just leave her in the middle of the grass by herself. Stranger danger, after all—with enough money for an ice-cream cone to compensate for the horsey ride that was cut short.

Soon, Natsu finds himself trailing behind his girlfriend who's running after a dog who's chasing after some poor squirrel.

When the squirrel cuts off from the path and disappears up the side of a tree, Natsu finds himself relieved, thinking the chase is over.

But Sammy doesn't stop.

He leads them through a line of bushes with leaves that snag their clothing and twigs that leave behind scrapes on their hands and Lucy's exposed shins. The blonde makes a grab for the handle of the leash as it trails after the dog, but Natsu ends up running into her from behind and sending them both spiraling to the ground.

Normally, Natsu is pretty fond of finding himself in situations where Lucy ends up on top of him, but, unfortunately, there is no time at all to enjoy his girlfriend's company before she's scrambling to her feet, pulling him up by his t-shirt before they're yet again on the dog's trail.

At one point, Lucy hops over a small puddle that Sammy had happily charged through, but Natsu doesn't notice it until it's far too late, thoroughly soaking his shoes.

 _These dogs are trying to ruin my business_ and _my wardrobe_. Natsu ultimately decides the dogs have it out for him, which is so not fair. Has he ever shown them anything but love in the past?

He suddenly regrets not sneaking Blue an extra treat behind Lucy's back that morning like he normally does. His own dog is probably behind this entire mutiny.

Is it weird that the idea made him just the slightest bit proud?

Natsu, drenched socks and all, barrels ahead just as they reach the entrance of the park, resorting back to his high school football days as he dove forward for the leash just as Sammy hits the edge of the sidewalk on his way into traffic.

The young man's chest is heaving as he flops onto his back, handing the leash off to Lucy—who wraps the light blue material around her wrist three times, just to be safe—while Sammy jumps onto the boy's stomach, licking his face and barking happily at his sitters, as if saying " _good to see ya! What took so long?"_

Lucy, panting pretty heavily herself, bends down with one hand outstretched to help her boyfriend to his feet.

Still trying to catch his breath and feeling like he's just run a marathon, Natsu looks down at their snagged clothing and his muddy, wet shoes. With a mouthful of grass and a layer of dirt now covering his face, he shakes his head and runs his hand through his hair.

"One down," he says, spitting out blades of grass and bits of clover, using the bottom of his t-shirt to wipe his mouth and the rest of the dirt from his face, " _fifteen_ more to go."

Natsu takes a deep breath, swallowing hard as he looks around for a nearby water fountain. He really, _really_ hopes that they'll be able to find the others, and _soon_. His distressed-style jeans ironically can't seem to handle this type of stress.

"Well," Lucy takes a step towards him, grabbing ahold of his arm as leverage with the hand holding Sammy's leash, using her other to wipe away some of the dirt that Natsu missed with her sleeve. "Where do we go now?"

Natsu,still basking in the victory of just finding one dog, suddenly realizes that Lucy has a point.

Looking around, the young man drops his head in his hands as it dawns on him.

Despite now having Sammy, they still have no idea as to where the others might have run off too.

They're essentially back to square one.

* * *

 **AN: We would love for you guys to review and tell us what you thought! For every 50 reviews, there will be a special bonus chapter dedicated to either the life of Gray, Happy and the new fish, or a Natsu/Lucy flashback!**


	3. Ollie, Ollie Oxen Free

**Here's chapter three :) This one was by me! Update will now be coming on Saturdays because of conflicts. Sorry guys! Be sure to leave us a review and tell us what you think!**

 **Dog Days**

 **Chapter Three: Ollie, Ollie Oxen Free**

One dog down, fifteen to go, and only a few hours to go before he's murdered by angry pet owners for losing their dogs.

Fucking great.

Natsu checks his watch for the _who the hell knows how many_ time today, watching the little hands race around in circles, showing time that they _don't have_ pass. It's been nearly twenty minutes since they found Sammy and they haven't seen hide nor hair of any of their other furry children. Dooms Days is getting closer and closer and they have found exactly one dog. One dog, and that's only because some little girl found him first.

He was kind of hoping it would be one of those "the first step is always the hardest" situations, but that is definitely not the case. And to make things even better, the dogs seem to have scattered themselves across the city. Meaning they're going to have to check everywhere, and then repeat the process because the dogs are still on the move.

This is like some hellish game of hide-and-seek and he's losing.

Dammit, he's never been good at this game! He was always too loud to hide without being found and too easily distracted to find anyone. This is like some twisted, childhood nightmare coming back to bite him in the ass.

It's totally because of the strip-poker incident to. He should have known that cheating his girlfriend into taking her clothes off was a bad idea—not that their clothes would have been on at the end of the night anyway—but apparently cheating is so wrong that it'll give you horrible karma for the rest of your life!

He was twenty dammit! He was twenty and it wasn't like he had never seen her naked before! Besides, it's not like Lucy had any complaints when the clothes came off. Actually, she seemed to enjoy it very much when he—moving on!

They are such horrible pet parents. No one is going to want to bring their animals back. Natsu and Lucy will be out of the business. They'll have to drop out of college and live in his father's basement for the next three years while they struggle to find jobs. Their pets will probably be taken away and never seen again. Lucy will leave him for being a deadbeat boyfriend and then he'll be all alone with nothing but his cat and a fish. Unless there's some kind of custody battle, then he'd be alone, because he just knows that Lucy would win.

No. No, no, that is not going to happen, he can't think that way. They will definitely find the dogs before their owners come to collect. He won't have to find a "real" job and Lucy can follow her dream of becoming an author—because he is not going to let something like this ruin that dream for her. He would fight tooth and nail to make sure that she's happy—They'll graduate college next year and he won't end up living in his father's basement until he's thirty. That's not going to happen. Not while he still has…

His fingers slip into his pocket, fingers skimming over something smooth.

Things can't go sour for them. Not yet.

Natsu glances at Lucy out of the corner of his eye, smiling as she hugs the little terrier in her arms just a little bit tighter. She hasn't put Sammy down since they found him, opting to carry the small dog rather than have him walk. Not that Sammy seems to mind at all. He looks perfectly content cuddling up against Lucy, his nose buried against her neck and his tail wagging happily.

A smile tugs at his lips despite the situation. He's just so glad that she's here with him. When he came up with the crazy idea to start a doggy daycare business she agreed right away, a smile lighting up her entire face and a happy giggle bursting from her when he picked her up in his arms, twirling her around as her arms slipped around his shoulders.

Sometimes he can't believe how much faith she has in him. She trusts him completely, to the point where he'll suggest something completely insane and she'll just smile and agree, because she knows that everything will be okay in the end. He's with her and she's with him, so everything is going to end up just fine. They can't fail when they're together.

Lucy giggles, squirming as Sammy licks her neck, tickling her. The dog yips happily, nuzzling her and she gives him a quick kiss.

"Lucy," he blurts, her name slipping from his lips unintentionally, his lips automatically quirking up. He loves the taste of her name on his lips. It's harsh sounding, gruff when he says it, but it's sweet and leaves his heart swelling in his chest and he knows he never wants another name on his tongue.

Her head snaps in his direction, a sunny smile immediately spreading across her face, her lips turning up at the edges as her eyes lock with his. He feels time stop for a single second, like everything is frozen around them and all he can see is her smile and her warm, brown eyes that he get's lost in despite seeing her everyday. He figures that he wants to get lost in her eyes, as sappy as that sounds.

"Natsu," she replies, his name sounding sweet on her lips. He smiles, a thrill running up his back at the sound of his name.

He takes a step closer to her, his arm slipping over her shoulders as they walk down the street. She shifts Sammy in one arm, the other slinking its way around his lean waist, giving him a quick squeeze. "We'll find the dogs," he promises her, leaning over to kiss her temple. "And then we'll pretend this never even happened." Because God help them if the pet parents find out.

He's dealt with them before over smaller, less life-endangering things—such as that one time one of the dogs accidentally swallowed a handful of decorative beads that Lucy had in a vase, which the dogs knocked over and shattered into a billion pieces. Not that Natsu really cared. It was an ugly vase—and nearly had a very important body part ripped off by Princess's owner Butch, a tall, scary-looking tattoo artist that happens to love his baby very, very much. Natsu nearly pissed himself when Butch came knocking on their door at two in the morning after that incident. He was more than terrified when Lucy went to answer the door—because Butch could have easily snapped her in half and he was scared the other man was going to kill his girlfriend for what happened to his dog.

It was almost funny. How all five feet of Lucy woke up at two in the morning to find a six-and-a-half-feet tall biker dude with tattoos covering his arms and piercings on his face standing at the door. She stared him down though, arms crossed over he chest as she glared at him, tapping her bare feet against the cold floor as he rambled on and on about safety and how they need to be more responsible and then—get this, he said he understood that it was "all Natsu's fault" but she should really "learn to control her boyfriend."

He looked over her head to lock eyes with Natsu as he said that, giving him a ferocious glare and all but snarling at him. then, he just left, like none of that even happened.

Natsu didn't sleep that night.

Lucy laughs, bringing him back to the present. "You're just scared Butch will find out," she teases, nudging him with her shoulder, her fingers playing with the waistband of his pants, tickling him as she grazes his hip.

"Damn right I'm scared," he laughs. "He stood outside of our house in the middle of the night and threatened to cut off my—"

"He did not!" she protests, giggling. "He just said to be more careful and that if something happened again, he wouldn't be bringing Princess back," she sends him a look, rolling her eyes at the dubious look he sends her.

Yeah, that is totally not what happened. As soon as Lucy turned her back, Butch made a very threatening _snipping_ motion with his fingers.

He's no genius, but he knows that that is _not_ something friendly.

"Does that mean if we tell him about this I'll never have to see that demon again?" he asks jokingly. Okay, maybe _half_ -jokingly. He loathes that dog. He would agree to never kiss Lucy again if it meant never having to see the she-beast again. Nah, that's a filthy lie! He loves kissing Lucy way too much to never do it again. It's kind of funny actually. Them kissing is what got them into this mess. Oops. "Because I am totally okay with that."

"Natsu!" she laughs, shoving him playfully. He gives her a goofy grin and she shakes her head, smiling as she sets Sammy down. Her grin slips away, sadness clouding her eyes as she bites her lip, tears shinning in her eyes. "We can do this, right?" she whispers, voice cracking. "We can find the dogs before anything bad happens to them?"

He stops her on the sidewalk, paying no attention to the dirty looks he gets from people trying to pass them, and turns her to face him with a gentle hand, taking her face in both of his hands, thumbs stroking her soft skin. "Of course we can," he promises, leaning down to press a chaste kiss to her lips. The contact doesn't last nearly long enough for him, but he pulls back nonetheless. Natsu smiles, bumping his nose against hers, making a smile creep onto her face. "We're in this together," he reminds her. "And together we can do anything."

She nods, giving him another quick kiss before pulling away. "I know," she whispers back. Sammy "woof"s in agreement, standing on his back legs to place his feet against Natsu's knee, furry tail wagging excitedly. Lucy giggles, shifting to rest her forehead against his shoulder. "I love you," she tells him softly, nuzzling his neck.

His lips press to her temple, a low, happy sound rumbling in his chest. "I love you too," he replies, eyes slipping shut as he holds her to his chest, an arm slipping around her back as he tugs her closer. At their feet, Sammy yips happily, jumping up and down and chasing his tail. Natsu smiles, watching the happy little dog for a moment before shifting Lucy in his arms, nudging her with his nose. She pulls back, lips turned up and determination shining in her eyes. He takes her free hand in his, tugging on her fingers and turning towards the street. Lucy does the same, both of them looking for cars.

It's not a car that they see though.

Beside him, Lucy gasps, her eyes widening in shock. Natsu's mouth drops open, a disbelieving look plastered across his face as his eyebrows screw together, his head cocking to the right as he forgets how to breathe for a second. Both of them stare at the sight before them, the sound of wheels against pavement filling their ears. Even Sammy stops to look.

"Lucy…" he trails off, swallowing thickly. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing, or did I just bump my head really hard earlier?" There's no way this could be real. He _has_ to be dreaming. Things like this don't just happen in real life. Right?

He squeezes her hand slightly and she squeezes back twice as strong. "No," she squeaks. "No, I see it too."

Both young adults simply watch, completely flabbergasted, as Scooter the border collie rolls by them on a skateboard his leash flapping in the wind behind him and a couple of angry teenagers chasing after him and shouting as he continues down the hill, tail wagging and tongue hanging out.

"What in the world?" Lucy murmurs.

"Hey, dog!" one of the kids shouts, pushing his blond hair out of his eyes as he chases after Scooter. The kid nearly trips, but manages to catch himself before face planting—which Natsu would have loved to see! Seriously, that would have made his day!—onto the concrete. "Give me back my board!" the kid screeches, shaking a fist at the retreating animal before disappearing down the hill.

"Sting!" another kids—a shorter, dark-haired male with a bored, frustrated look on his face—shouts, trying to keep up with his friend. "Slow down! The dog will stop at the bottom of the street and you can get the board back! Just calm down!" The second kid blazes passed them.

Two more kids run by, a boy and a girl holding hands, the boy with a board tucked under his free arm and the struggling to keep up with his fast pace, her blue hair billowing out behind her. "Sting! Rogue!" the boy shouts. "Guys wait up!"

Ahh, teenagers. To be young again. Wait, he isn't even that old! He's like, twenty-two. Probably. He'll have to ask Lucy when they get home. Hopefully she won't laugh.

Natsu glances down at Lucy, blinking at her, and she stares back at him, a blank look on her face. Between them, Sammy yips, hopping up and down, happy to see his furry friend. The footsteps disappear, but Natsu can still hear that one kid-Sting or something-what the hell kind of a name is "Sting?" What idiot names their kid "Sting?" And wasn't the other one called "Rogue?" What are the other two called? "Romeo" and "Juliet?" Hah! That would be a riot!"-shouting obscenities after the retreating dog.

"Well…" he trails off, still confused as he stares down at Lucy, hoping she can figure this weird situation out, because he certainly can't. Like, what just happened? Why was Scooter on a skateboard? Wait, did he steal it? Goddamn—the dog's a thief! He's going to end up in puppy jail—or something, and that is probably _not_ a good thing.

It would have been funnier if Scooter was on a scooter, but whatever. Maybe they can try that next week… you know, assuming they aren't _fired_.

"Umm…" Lucy tilts her head to the side, a frown pulling at her lips. "We found Scooter," she whispers, her eyes leaving his to go back to the street. They just stand there for several seconds, more than a little bit confused. Sammy barks again, gaining Natsu's attention as he bounces around, twirling in circles and staring after Scooter with big, sad eyes, obviously wanting to be with his friend.

"Natsu?" Lucy whispers, tugging at his fingers. He glances down, momentarily entranced by her hand in his. He'll never get over the fact that his hand is so much bigger than hers. Her little palm soft against his calloused skin, slightly cooler than his own warm skin. She tugs his hand again, impatient this time. "Natsu!"

His head snaps in her direction. "What!?" he yelps, shocked by the urgency in her voice.

Her eyes meet his, big and terrified and all sorts of other emotions that he can't even begin to figure out. He knows he doesn't like it though. He never wants her to be scared, not while he's right beside her because that means he's doing something wrong. She isn't supposed to be scared or upset while he's holding her hand.

Her mouth opens, but she doesn't say anything, just closes it again, her eyes glossy, like they are when she's about to cry and—oh shit! He turns to her fully, cupping her face in his big hands. "Lucy, what's wrong?" he asks, ducking his face down next to hers, eyes pleading with her as his nose brushes her cheek.

The fingers of her free hand curl into his shirt, squeezing tightly. "Natsu," she repeats, slower this time. "Scooter is getting away. And he's really, really fast." His heart drops into his stomach and he winces. Yeah, he kind of forgot about that part.

"You were in cross-country back in high school, right?" he asks.

She nods, "Well, yeah, but that was almost four years ago and—"

"Great!" he cuts her off, grabbing her hand and whirling around on his heel. "Let's go!" He bolts forward, nearly pulling her to the ground do to the sudden change in gravity. She yelps, but manages to stay on her feet as he nearly yanks her arm off.

(Sometimes she forgets that he plays sports. Even though that should be impossible because he is really, _really_ fit. Like, what the heck? He's only twenty-one, he shouldn't be _that_ built. Not that she's complaining.)

Sammy barks in excitement, running as fast as his little legs can go, which is surprisingly fast for a little dog. Natsu grins, tightening his grip on Lucy as the chase after the teenagers chasing after their dog. What an adventure!

Lucy laughs behind him, nearly tripping but managing to catch herself as she speeds up, keeping pace with her boyfriend. He grins over his shoulder at her, his eyes crinkling up at the edges. A chuckle escapes him and he shakes his head, pulling her down the street with him as they go after the convict dog.

Together they stumble, laughing—somewhat hysterically, but laughing is always good for you, right? It helps ease the tension and stress—and _boy do they have a lot of stress right now_.

They stop at the bottom of the hill, both out of breath from the running, Lucy more so than Natsu, but that's besides the point. He's totally not bragging about how in shape he is. What with college hockey in the winter.

Lucy gasps at what they see, trying to hold back the laugh bubbling in her chest.

Natsu isn't quite as tactful.

He bursts into laughter, doubling over himself as he watches the three teenage boys take turns eating dirt as they try to catch Scooter—who has the skateboard in his _mouth_ and is running around like he's playing the best game ever—who merely dances out of their reach, tail wagging happily. The girl stands behind the three boys, peeking at them between her fingers and cringing when her boyfriend hits the ground—well, Natsu assumes it's her boyfriend. They were holding hands after all. Then again, he and Lucy used to hold hands all the time before they were dating. Maybe these kids are like that.

Natsu collapses on his knees when the blond lunges for Scooter, who merely sidesteps him, ducking out of the way as the two other boys do the same, their heads knocking together painfully as they jump at the same time.

He can feel tears burning at his eyes, that's how funny this is. Above him, Lucy sends him a glare, rolling her eyes as Natsu bites his lip in a poor attempt to hold in his obnoxious laughter. Her glare intensifies, her leg shooting out and kicking him in the stomach. It doesn't hurt, but it does make him lose his breath. Which is bad, because he's still laughing.

The outcome is him laying on the sidewalk, choking as a bunch of teenagers injure themselves in an attempt to get a skateboard. Lucy is not amused.

"Oh, for the love of—Scooter sit!" she snaps, placing her hands on her hips. Sammy freezes, immediately dropping to his butt at the command. Natsu freezes, flinging himself into a sitting position just as quickly. Scooter stops running and sits, the skateboard dropping to the ground and Sting flying over his head because of a poorly timed attempt at retrieval. The other three go stock still, shocked by the authoritative tone.

Damn, he loves it when she gets bossy. Her taking charge is such a huge turn on, usually because it leads to her topping and—Natsu wriggles in his spot, blushing at his own dirty thoughts. Yeah, totally not appropriate for the situation. He should stop that, or something.

Sting pops his head up from the other side of Scooter, quickly grabbing the dogs leash, a smirk pulling at his lips like he's just accomplished something great. Whatever kid, you just took a nosedive into the asphalt. He didn't even stop the dog.

Natsu rolls his eyes, stopping halfway as Lucy steps forward, dropping Sammy's leash into his lap, hips swinging slightly as she walks forward. He immediately zeroes in on the movement, his breath catching in his throat. His eyes trail up her body slowly, watching her move. A smile tugs at his lips, that is, until he notices the blond kid doing the same, his blue eyes wide and his jaw dropped open as he stares at Natsu's girlfriend.

A low growl bubbles in his chest. One of the other boys—the one that's not Rogue—sends him a terrified look, his eyes going wide as the threatening sound tears from Natsu's chest. His hand latches onto the girl's, to which she sends him a strange look. Rogue stays on the ground, propped up on his elbows with a bored expression on his face as he rolls his eyes.

Lucy stops in front of the other blond, one hand on her hip with the other reaching out in front of her as she looks up at him. Sting's eyes practically pop out of his skull as he stares. Natsu snarls again, too quiet for him to hear.

Lucy sighs. "Can I have my dog?" she asks, irritated. Scooter stares up at her, whining slightly as his tail swishes against the ground. He always has been a mama's boy, cuddling with Lucy whenever he got the chance.

Sting's mouth hangs open, his eyes raking up and down her body. "Your what?" he blurts. Rogue smacks himself in the face and the other boy groans, leaning his forehead against the girl's shoulder, who blushes and shakes her head at the scene.

Meanwhile Natsu is fighting the urge to stand up and strangle the kid.

Lucy is less than amused. "My dog," she repeats, slower this time. "The one you're holding." She points at Scooter, who whines again. Yeah, Scooter, you're the dog. Though Natsu thinks there's _two_ dogs over there, one of which he definitely doesn't like.

The taller blond gapes. "I don't know what you're talking about," he tells her, eyes finally— _finally_ —meeting hers. He can't see the expression on Lucy's face, but he knows she's not happy about it, judging by how tense her shoulders are. "But hello, Gorgeous."

"Excuse me?" Lucy snaps, both hands going to her hips as she glares up at him. "You're like fourteen," she replies, words nothing more than a hiss.

Natsu smirks. That's his girl right there. She doesn't take shit from anyone, especially not dweeby skater kids that think they're all that. Suck on that Sting. He would stick his tongue out, but that's immature.

Who is he kidding? He's not mature!

Sting blanches, looking offended. "I'm sixteen!" he cries, eyebrows knitting together, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. Serves him right. Unfortunately, he recovers soon enough. "And how old are you, pretty lady?" he asks, trying to be smooth. Natsu cringes at the horrid pick up lines. If he can even call them that.

Lucy shudders. "Too old for you," is all she says, reaching out for the leash once again.

He ignores the hand. "I happen to have a thing for older women," he says, winking. Natsu feels like he's going to puke. Can this get any worse? God, and he thought Bixlow was a horrible flirt. Next time Natsu sees him he's going to have to apologize for all the things he said at the Christmas party—admittedly, some of which was incredibly uncalled for, but that's what Bixlow gets for putting his tongue where it doesn't belong!

A sigh leaves his girlfriend, her hand running through her hair. "Too bad I don't like younger men," she counters, reaching for the leash. Sting moves out of her range, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"Aww, don't be like that, Sweetheart!"

Rogue groans, shaking his head. "Sting just give it up!" he tells his friend, glaring at him. Natsu agrees, Sting should just get the hell out of here before Natsu gets angry, which will happen sooner rather than later

Sting, apparently, does not agree with Rogue, judging by the way he completely ignores his friend. "You know," he continues. "We should go out sometime. I know this really nice place down by—"

"Not interested," she cuts him off, making another grab for Scooter, who's starting to get antsy, his whines becoming more frequent, the young dog not liking being handled by other people. He can tell Lucy is getting frustrated too, not liking the conversation.

"That's too bad I think we'd have a great time together," he says almost lewdly—almost, like it was an accident that it was said that way. There's no malice in his eyes, nor bad intentions, but it doesn't sound right. Lucy flinches at the tone and Natsu's restraint snaps.

His hands clench into fists as he pushes himself to his feet, shoving Sammy's leash into the brunet kid's hand before stomping over to the other two. He places a hand low on Lucy's back, glaring over her head at the younger male, who shrinks back slightly. He doesn't say anything, just glares, softening slightly as Lucy leans back into his chest. His arm slips around her stomach, fingers spread wide over her stomach. A low sound rumbles in his chest and Sting takes a step back.

Lucy sighs, her hand coming up, fingers threading through his. The other three come forward as well, Rogue rolling his eyes at Sting.

"Sorry about him," he apologizes. "He doesn't know when to take a hint," he says, glaring pointedly at Sting, who shrinks back. Rogue turns his bored gaze back to Natsu and Lucy. "I'm Rogue," he tells them, before gesturing with a thumb to the unknown pair. "And that's Romeo," Natsu's eyes widen—there is no possible way—"and Wendy." Dammit! So close!

Wendy smiles at them, waving shyly. Lucy smiles back kindly. Natsu nods at the two, lips quirking up at the edges. Romeo is too busy gawking at Wendy to notice anything else around him, even as Sammy chews on his sneakers.

String gives him a funny look, resting an elbow on his shoulder. "Rogue, why don't you introduce me?" Rogue glares, placing a hand on Sting's face and shoving him away, making him stumble away.

"I don't think they want to know you," Rogue says sarcastically, crossing his arms as Sting pouts. Lucy giggles a little, fingers squeezing Natsu's hand. He smiles, arm tightening around her waist as he presses his chest against her back, kissing her temple lightly, letting his lips linger longer than necessary.

He glances at sting, watching the realization hit him like a hammer. Yeah, eat that kid. Natsu grins against her hair, nuzzling her lightly. Sting has the decency to look ashamed.

"Can I have my dog back now?" Lucy asks, giggling as Natsu's lips brush against her ear.

"How about I give you the dog if you give me a kiss," Sting blurts. Rogue whirls on his heel, open palm smacking against Sting's cheek. "Oww! God I was just kidding!" he snarls, glaring at his friend. "It just kind of slipped out!" Rogue snorts, ripping the leash from his hand and shoving it into Lucy's before grabbing the forgotten skateboard and walking away.

"Sting, I'm telling Yukino you were flirting with another woman." Wendy giggles, dropping Sammy's leash into Lucy's palm, whispering a quick goodbye before following him, Romeo trailing behind her, seemingly in a daze.

"What!?" Sting screams, scrambling after them. "Yukino and I don't even like each other like that!" He stumbles, over the sidewalk, hurrying after them. "Rogue, don't you dare!"

Lucy laughs as they walk away, leaning back against Natsu, who smiles and places a kiss on her bare shoulder. "Hey, Natsu?" she murmurs, glancing at him over her shoulder.

"Yeah?"

She spins in his arms, mindful of the leashes, and presses a quick kiss against his lips.

"Onto the next dog," she whispers against his mouth.

 _Dammit!_

* * *

 **AN: Anyone curious about the Strip poker incident? If we hit 50 reviews, you guys will find out! That means 19 more reviews, and you guys get a special chapter!**

 **Thanks to everyone who's read/reviewed! They make Kaeli and I really happy :) Next chapter will be out on Saturday!**


	4. Duck, Duck, Goose (From Hell)

**AN: We're so sorry the chapter is a week late! Kaeli started school this week and it was kind of a mess! The next chapter should be on time!**

 **Dog Days**

 **Chapter Four: Duck, Duck Goose (From** _ **Hell**_ **)**

Of course, of fucking course.

As if this day hasn't already been bad enough.

"No," Natsu feels like laughing, or throwing up, he isn't quite sure yet. "I'm not gonna do it."

He folds his arms defiantly across his chest, purposefully looking everywhere _but_ in the direction of the short blonde standing in front of him. Natsu will not make eye contact with the enemy. He would undoubtedly go to the ends of the earth for this woman, along with declare his love for her from every rooftop in the city, but he will in the same breath _also_ tell them that he is _not_ going to do it.

Every person has their breaking point, and this is Natsu's breaking point.

Scary dog owners be damned. Scary dog owners covered in _tattoos_ , be damned. _Butch_ , be damned! Natsu is more terrified of what's awaiting him, should he agree to Lucy's request, than he is the scary tattoo artist with even scarier hand gestures.

Okay, so that isn't entirely true. Butch haunted his nightmares for a fair number of nights after that particular incident with Princess, but this situation is preventable! He isn't about to willingly walk into what could possibly be his end! No matter how cute Lucy looks when she pouts and gives him that adorable little frown!

And damn, she really does look cute right now, especially when she does that little thing with her— _no_ , he has to stay strong this time. He will not break.

"Natsu," he can tell by her tone that she's getting upset with him, since it's now shifted from the innocent pouting that it had been only a few seconds before. Natsu feels a tiny crack in his resolve—he really hates upsetting her—but still, he holds strong.

He forces himself to turn around completely, showing his back to the girl as he shrugs off her scary tone. "Nope," he says, "I refuse."

She scoffs, and he just knows that she's rolling her eyes at him. He can feel the annoyed motion directed at him and it sends a shiver down his back.

"Why are you being such a baby about this?"

"I am not being a baby about this!" He whips back around, nearly tripping over an excited Scooter who is busy bouncing around Natsu's feet, thinking the young man's erratic movements are a part of some game. "Any sane person would have the same reaction as me right now, thank you very much!"

"You act like they're going to _eat_ you!"

Natsu's eyes widen at the girl's nonchalant tone, and is dead serious when he replies with, "They _might_!"

"You're such a dork." He watches as his girlfriend shakes her head just the slightest, and is confused when he sees the corners of her mouth lift in the smallest of grins. "Maybe that's why I love you so much." He pouts a little at her words, feeling even more out of the loop when she hands him Sammy to hold, leaving him now with both dogs as Scooter continues to pant happily at Natsu's feet.

Lucy rests her hands on her hips, raising a brow as she says, "A few ducks are not going to hurt you."

"It's not the ducks I'm worried about," Natsu says, mocking the girl's teasing tone before shifting his voice back to normal. "But that _goose_ over there is just waiting to fuck me up."

"Then don't go near the goose!"

Natsu, feeling affronted that anyone could take a potential goose attack so lightly, opens his mouth to tell her that it isn't as simple as ' _don't go near the goose_ '—those little shits can smell fear, and that was something he'd learned the hard way on a field trip back in the third grade when one of the demon spawn had harassed him for his lunch, making off with both his ham on rye _and_ his left shoe, don't ask—when he is interrupted by a loud splash coming from the duck pond.

The sound of that splash, that has just soaked Natsu's sneakers—it's really proving not to be his day—is the very reason he and Lucy are even having this stupid conversation in this unholy area in the first place!

* * *

 _They hadn't been walking for very long, a short enough period of time for Scooter to still be moping about losing his wheels when they'd heard a loud splash coming from the duck pond that they'd been passing on their way into town._

 _The splash, Natsu knew immediately, had been too large for any duck to make._

Oh, for the love of… _Natsu had practically wilted where he stood the moment he felt Lucy's hand fall on his arm, stopping them in their tracks as she whipped her head to the side. Natsu, meanwhile, had only closed his eyes tight and prayed that he wouldn't be responsible for whatever was in the pond._

" _Is that…" he heard Lucy mutter, feeling the way she suddenly gripped his arm as tight as she could. "Natsu! It's Atlas!"_

 _Natsu peeked one eye open to, sure enough, see a very jolly Golden Retriever having the time of his life as he was busy treading water, swimming around the pond and harassing any and all ducks that had decided to take a dip. Normally, on any other occasion, Natsu felt as though he would reward the dog for finding such a good pass time, but not when_ he _was responsible for getting him out of said duck pond!_

 _Scooter had barked happily at the sight of his furry friend and had tugged at his leash, eager to join the Golden Retriever, although Natsu was having none of that._

 _Damn it._

* * *

"Would you just go in after him?"

" _You_ go in after him!"

Natsu realizes his mistake just a split second too late, and watches as Lucy raises her brow.

"Okay," she says slowly, calmly. "Fine."

"Wait…" Okay, so it's not exactly the response that he was expecting from his girlfriend, especially when it meant wading through a duck pond. "Luce," he wrinkles his nose and points to the water, covering Sammy's young ears as he whispers, "Ducks _shit_ in there."

It's important to Natsu that his girlfriend knows the full extent of what she just agreed to.

Lucy only laughs, saying something along the lines of how it's a good thing she wore her old shoes that day or something, Natsu isn't really sure. He's a little distracted by the blonde's hands that are now drifting towards the hem of her shirt.

"Uh, Luce," he says softly, his mouth going dry as he watches her lift the fabric up and over her head before handing it to him.

"What?" she shrugs, "I'm not about to go in with my clothes on." She rolls her eyes and wrinkles her nose at the thought. Natsu only nods, half-listening as he takes in the sight of her standing there in only a tight tank top and jeans. His eyes roam his girlfriend's figure, suddenly very thankful for the figure-hugging material that she seems so fond of.

It's still beyond the young man how even after four years of dating, the girl in front of him could still take his breath away and leave him speechless. He never will be able to get enough of her.

And, oh God, her bra is an electric purple color and showing through the thin material of her white tank top… Natsu quickly shields Sammy's pure, virgin eyes.

Well, as virgin as one can call a dog who won't stop humping the stuffed duck toy they have back home—the aftermath of one very expensive night at the fair, but so, totally worth it. Speaking of ducks, Natsu makes a quick mental note not to let Sammy down any time soon…

When he hears the faint sound of Lucy unbuttoning her jeans, he's immediately snapped out of his daze.

"No stop!" With his free hand he reaches out and swiftly re-does the button one-handed—he's had a lot of practice over the years—and quickly hands back her shirt and Sammy before she can shed any more of her clothes. "I'll do it!"

That Sting kid could still be around, for all Natsu knows, and he isn't about to let that pervy teenager get a free show of his girlfriend in her underwear. Not that Natsu would let him pay for a show either, not that there would be a show in the first place…

There will be no show of his girlfriend, period!

Unless it's for Natsu, then he may reconsider… but that's beside the point!

Natsu takes a deep breath, staring out at the murky water as his eyes follow Atlas' head—the only part of the canine that isn't underwater—and makes one last feeble attempt at whistling for the dog to come back to shore. All it does though is excite both Scooter and Sammy, who howl back in response.

As for Atlas, he's too busy panting away as he "sneaks" up on a group of ducks who have taken solace in the very middle of the pond.

"You _sooo_ owe me for this," Natsu mumbles as he swiftly removes his shirt once handing over Scooter's leash to the blonde. He makes quick work of his jeans, kicking them off to the side before bending down to re-tie his laces.

He's not about to go into a duck pond barefoot, after all. Gross.

His girlfriend just snickers, carefully folding Natsu's clothes over her arm as she waves him off once he's done testing the waters.

"My hero," she calls after him, laughing harder when Natsu leaves her with a bird of her own after flashing an obscene gesture.

"A-Atlas!" Natsu calls out shakily for the pooch as he slowly wades into the murky water, his eyes focused on the sky as he promptly refuses to look anywhere near the demon lurking on the far end of the pond.

His eyes eventually drift down to the water, so dark that he can't see his legs beneath the surface. He knows, with every squishing step, that he's further ruining his shoes.

"Atlas!" Natsu calls out again, cursing when the dog lifts his head to look back at the man before deliberately doggy-paddling off in the other direction, like they were playing some sort of keep away game.

"We don't have time for this!" he groans, wading further into the pond until he's waist deep. The sun overhead is still blazing, directly in the middle of the sky, but that doesn't mean much to Natsu. They only have three—well, two technically, Atlas isn't caught yet—dogs out of sixteen, and their window of opportunity is closing with every passing splash of Atlas swimming around.

Natsu makes a lunge for the drenched Golden Retriever, only to end up gagging when he misses and some of the water splashes up onto his face, only very nearly missing his mouth.

"My life sucks," he groans, throwing his head back to look at the sky. "I'm only babysitting cats from here on out. Or rabbits. We're rabbit-sitters now."

 _Who the hell taught this dog how to swim?_ he thinks a few moments later, panting and trying to figure in his head how long it had been since he last went to the gym. This was just sad on his part.

The sound of Lucy laughing her ass off back on land wasn't really good for moral, either.

However, then he hears her soft, " _Oh_."

Natsu, whose hair is now drenched and sticking to his forehead, watches in confusion as Atlas' ears perk, and soon the dog's nose is the only thing above water as he stills completely. The man lunges forward, thinking this is his chance to finally catch the rogue pooch as he makes a grab for Atlas' collar.

He's close. So, _so_ close.

But no dice.

He reaches just as the dog darts away, making a beeline for dry land and straight towards Lucy, whose holding something in her hand way above her head, out of a bouncing Scooter's reach. Natsu squints and shields his eyes from the sun to see better, and that's when he notices just what it is his girlfriend is holding, and why Atlas is so interested.

She's holding a dog treat.

"You've _got_ to be shitting me."

"Sorry," Lucy winces when Natsu, who is now wading just above knee-level, gets closer. She holds up a drenched leash attached to an even more soaked Golden Retriever, who is gnawing happily on a pink-colored dog biscuit. "I laid your pants down for a second so I could readjust your shirt, and when I looked down Scooter was trying to eat your pockets. And when I checked them, well," she winces once more as she holds up a small handful of the multi-colored biscuits. "You had these in there, and you know they're Atlas' favorite."

His own jeans, and he forgot about the treats.

The treats that he carries with him on every walk.

And now he's soaked and cold from wading around in duck shit for the past ten minutes.

It's truly a great, remarkable day.

Natsu finds himself wishing that this will hopefully be one of those days that he and Luce can look back on and laugh about one day, because then that would mean Natsu got at least some enjoyment out of it.

But as for now? Natsu looks down just as Atlas finishes off his biscuit, plopping himself down beside the man's feet before panting up at him. The dog wags his tail happily, shaking the water from his coat and spraying Natsu's dry shirt, which Lucy has just handed him.

Rabbit-sitting is looking better and better.

Natsu nearly jumps out of his skin when there's a loud, angry squawk from behind him, and he quickly grabs Lucy's wrist and pulls her—and their three babies—farther away from the water that was lapping at their heels.

 _Holy shit_ , he thinks, breathing hard as he dresses as quickly as possible, ignoring Lucy's laughter. _Not today, you satanic bird._ Natsu glares after the goose that was making its rounds, wincing when the bird honks one last warning at the pair before turning in the direction of a small group of ducks.

The small departing hiss—yes, geese hiss. Terrifying, right?—sends a shiver down Natsu's spine while taking him back about fifteen years.

The man shoots the Golden Retriever a dirty look, but the dog's tail only thumps the ground as Atlas bounces up and down with Scooter, both happy to be reunited. Sammy barks from his place in Lucy's arms, panting happily before snuggling closer to the blonde's chest.

His girlfriend only laughs at his grumpy expression, pressing his jeans to his chest before stepping up on her tiptoes to press her lips to his cheek.

"I love you," she grins, pecking him on the lips before gesturing for him to hurry and finish getting dressed. "Come on, we still have more puppies to round up."

Fifteen more, to be exact.

 _Seriously_ , Natsu thinks, wringing out his shirt. _Could I still pay rent if I switch to rabbits?_

* * *

 **AN: Next chapter is the special 50 review chapter! You guys will finally learn what happened during the strip poker incident ;) I'll put a warning at the top, because I'm not sure how naughty it will get.**

 **Bit thank you to everyone who's left a review! Kaeli and I really appreciate the feedback!**


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